Kawasaki ZG-1000 Concours

This was a new addition for me in 2000. While I loved my GPZ, after a very long ride the previous summer I felt it was time to add something more tuned for long distance — more upright posture and more wind protection.

A winter’s research on the ‘net convinced me the Connie was the right bike. It has a huge following, and great support from the Concours Owners’ Group. I had the Concours for 5 years and it proved to be a real workhorse — reliable, powerful, comfortable, and able to handle just about any kind of riding.

One negative: despite being a big bike, it’s not a roomy bike. I’m 183 cm6 feet tall. The seat is fairly low, and the pegs are fairly high, and the result is that my long legs were quite folded to sit on the bike. It was hard on the knees and hips after a long time in the saddle. I tried a footpeg-lowering kit, but didn’t like the results. The lower pegs easily scraped on cornering, and the geometry of the mount meant that lowering the pegs also moved them backward a bit. It wasn’t more comfortable enough to justify the loss of cornering clearance and I took the lowering kit off again.

This page and these comments are about the original Concours, the ZG-1000 or GTR-1000. In the mid-2000s the bike was updated to a 1400cc model. I haven’t tried that bike and I doubt much of what I say on these pages would apply.

Modifications

Our long winters are a good time to tinker with bikes, and I generally did some kind of modification each winter.

ThrottleMeister throttle-lock. This is my second one, which is a pretty good endorsement.

Adaptor rack allowing Givi case (from GPZ) to be used as a top-case.

Highway Pegs for leg relief.

Fork Brace for extra cornering rigidity.

GPS unit mounted on handlebars.

Taller windscreen to move airflow over my head.

Heated handgrips extend the riding season a few more weeks.